In the Throes of Life
by tmcala
Summary: Abby, Hoagie, Kuki, and Wally go through life. Humorous college fic. Mainly Abby/Hoagie and Kuki/Wally but other characters make appearances :D
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Welcome to the Wonderful World of My Soap Opera fic! This is supposed to be funny and light and fun, just btw. Enjoy :D**

Chapter 1

I'm Abigail Gilligan. I'm nineteen and three and a half months pregnant. I live with my husband, Hoagie; my best friend, Kuki; and her boyfriend, Wally. We live off campus in a small apartment on the bad side of town. I'm not taking classes right now, but Kuki, Wally, and Hoagie are. Kuki is studying interior decoration and Wally and Hoagie are going to be a doctor and an engineer, respectively. I was planning on becoming an editor. I guess I still can someday, after this baby comes. I also like to write, which is why I decided I'd spend all this free time I have now writing our story so that you, the masses, can read it.

I was still asleep when Wally and Hoagie left for classes this morning. OK, pretty much every morning. Kuki and I had the apartment to ourselves for two hours every morning, 7 to 9. I usually slept through all of this. Kuki didn't, she has too much energy to sleep past 8 most days. This morning I woke up a little early than usual.

"Hey, girl," I said, glancing over in her direction. She always wore the strangest clothes. Kuki made her own outfits with iron-ons, beads, feathers, anything she could find for cheap. This morning she had chosen an electric blue- t with beads sewn on everywhere.

"Hiya! Why are you up so early, sleepyhead?" she asked with a smile.

"I don't know. I just got up; the shower woke me, usually it doesn't."

"Hm…that's funny, you sleep like the dead. I guess this is good though because you can hear Lourdes crying." Lourdes was the God awful name Kuki had picked for my baby. We didn't know the sex, but she had also decided my baby was a girl.

"Abby is not gonna name her baby Lourdes. Give it up, girlfriend." This had to be the thousandth time telling her this.

Kuki pursed her lips in a pout. "Well then, you and Hoagie better figure out what you are naming her!" She sang, skipping over to the table with her cereal.

"I'm not due for another 5 months. There's no rush."

Soon, Kuki headed off to class and I was stuck home alone, just like every other day. I turned on the TV to a cooking channel. I've known how to cook for years, but I watched the last 15 minutes of it anyway.

Hoagie usually comes home at 12 for lunch and to get his afternoon books. He brings some of his friends too and since I have absolutely nothing important to do, I make them food. Most days, I don't try to impress them. I've learned that for boys, food is food. But I was in the mood to make something good.

I started cooking around 11. I put spinach on 6 paper plates and then crumbled blue cheese on top of that. I added pecans and then peeled, and sliced, pears. I topped it off with vinaigrette. When I was done, I ate mine. Being pregnant makes me so hungry all the time. I put the salads on the table with placemats that Kuki had decorated. I heard the guys pounding up the stairs. I sat down on the couch with a magazine.

The door flew open and Hoagie, Wally, Nigel, Patton, and Ace ran in. They crowded around the table, eager to see what I had made for them.

"This looks good. Can I eat it?" Ace asked, his slight Spanish accent lacing the words. He was studying to be an engineer too and he and Hoagie were good friends.

"It is good! Nice, Abs!" Hoagie's salad was half-way gone. That boy was like a garbage disposal.

I didn't hear a word from any of them as they ate for five minutes. When they were done, they threw away their plates and headed over to where I was on the coach to watch TV. Hoagie sat down next to me. The coach fit about 5 people, but it was tight. Some sort of fight ensued, ending with Wally, Ace, and Patton getting spots on the couch. Nigel trudged over to the table to grab a chair.

"Dude. That guy with the gun was so freaky!" Patton commented.

"You saw a guy with a gun?" I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but we did live on the bad side of town.

"Yeah, outside the building," Wally replied. "I could've taken him if he had tried anything."

The boys laughed. "Sure you could, Beatles," Patton scoffed.

"You're asking for it, Drilovsky." Wally is usually a pretty good-humored guy, but there are two things he doesn't like: being called weak and short. He is no longer short, like when we were kids, but the guys sometimes like to mess with him. He has a short fuse and isn't exactly the brightest bulb in the bunch.

"Well. I'm glad you guys didn't get shot…" I mumbled.

"Please, Abs, he wouldn't have shot some random kids," Hoagie replied, staring at my chest. Alright, I'm going to tell you something. When you're pregnant, you get bigger boobs. This is one of those things I thought everyone knew. Apparently, Hoagie didn't.

"You're disgusting," I commented.

The guys broke out in laughter. "You're supposed to do it sneakily, mate," Wally laughed.

"Yeah, it's just like a quick glance," Ace added.

Hoagie raised an eyebrow at his friends. "You," he looked at each of them, "are not supposed to be glancing at all."

"Well, I mean, look at her dude," Patton responded.

"Would y'all just shut up?" I screamed. The door opened. Kuki was back from her classes for the day. Thank God. I got up from the couch and ran over to my Asian friend. "Girl, hey!"

Kuki glared at me and headed towards the bedroom she shared with Wally. Hoagie and Wally glanced at me over their shoulders, obviously telling me to solve this problem, so I followed her in. "What's up?" I asked.

She looked at me, her slanted eyes filling with tears. "I didn't get into the art show!" Kuki minored in art.

I sat down next to her on the bed and she rested her head on my shoulder. "That's alright, Kuki. You definitely have talent. You'll get it next time."

"Everybody else's work was so different from mine though, Abby. What does that mean?" Kuki's art was what you would call abstract, but I had to admit it was good, if you understood it. She lay back on the bed and flipped on the small TV. I heard some of the guys leave.

"Abby's gonna go sit with Hoagie for a bit, OK?" I asked.

She nodded and I passed by Wally on the way back to the couch. I guessed he was going to spend some time with Kuki. "Thanks, Abs," he said.

I smiled up at my blond, Australian friend. "No problem, kid."

"What was that about?" Hoagie asked from the kitchen where he was making himself a second lunch.

I shook my head at him. "She didn't make it in to the art show." I walked over to the mattress on the floor where Hoagie and I slept. We didn't have a bedroom. The joys of college life.

"Are you going back to sleep?" he asked, looking semi-concerned.

"Maybe, my back hurts," I answered. I closed my eyes.

When I woke up, there was no one home. Looking at the clock, I realized it was 7. Hoagie wasn't back from his afternoon classes until 8. Kuki and Wally had probably headed off the bar down the street. I laid on the mattress and eventually fell back asleep again. The second time I got up, I was greeted by the sound of blaring rap. "Oh, God, turn it off before Abby keels over!" I opened my eyes to find around 20 people in the room.

"Oh, hey, Abs," Hoagie said, walking towards the mattress.

"Looks it like," I replied. I walked over to the bathroom. Ace and some girl were making out so I headed to Wally and Kuki's room to use to other bathroom. The door was locked so I knocked, not wanting to interrupt anything.

"Hold on one teensy second!" Kuki's voice said. She opened the door wearing Wally's orange t-shirt. Wally was in boxers.

"Starting early?" I asked, letting myself into the master bathroom.

"You slept through half the party. Its midnight," Wally replied. He looked kind of mad at me for barging in. Well, he got the bedroom; I should be able to use the bathroom whenever I want.

"Midnight! No wonder Abby's so hungry!" I pulled on one of Kuki's crazy shirts and left them to get back to…whatever they'd been doing.

"Hoagie, you ate all the food!" I complained after digging through the fridge for a few minutes. He tossed me a bag of chips. I took them back to my mattress to eat, he followed me.

"Why would anyone want to listen to this music? It's not even really music!" I crunched a chip between my teeth.

"It's Patton's," Hoagie said as if that explained everything. And it basically did. Patton thought he was 'gangsta'. It wasn't really going for him.

"Say no more," I replied.

Hoagie put his arm around me. "Ya know, Kuki's been botherin' me about what we are naming this kid all the time. Maybe, we oughta pick one to shut her up?" I looked up at Hoagie's blue eyes.

"Eh, no rush. I'm looking forward to my last five baby- free months with the most beautiful girl at this party." He pulled at the end of my braid with a smile.

"Abigail!" Nigel called. Out of all our friends, Nigel was the most high-strung. I was surprised he would still be hanging around a party this late. Especially one with this much booze.

"Yeah?" I pushed myself up from my comfortable position.

"Patton spilled beer on the rug. And I'd clean it up myself, but I don't know where you keep that stuff," he explained guiltily.

I sighed and got up to grab the stain remover. Patton always got drunk and always spilled his beer. It was just one of those things. After cleaning it, I went back to my mattress to find not Hoagie, but two random people making out. I wandered around our small apartment, looking for Hoagie. The door to Wally and Kuki's room was open so I went in there. Wally came in; he had beer spilled down the front of his shirt. "Hey," he said. "Patton," he added, gesturing to the spill.

"Where's Kuki?" I asked.

"Trying to get some people out. There are people here that none of us recognize."

"Yeah, there're two kids getting it on in Abby's bed," I explained.

He pushed up his sleeves. "I'll take care of that for ya."

A few seconds after Wally left, Hoagie came in. "You'll want to stay in here, Abs," he said. "There're some really sketchy looking kids here. Kuki, Wally, Nigel, Ace, and I are trying to get them to leave; Patton's passed out on the couch. I think I should stay in here, though. I'll come get you later." He shut and locked the door. I curled up on Kuki and Wally's bed. This wasn't such a big deal, it had happened before.

When I woke up for the 3rd time that night, Hoagie was moving me over to our mattress. "Sorry, I tried not to wake you."

"Where are Kuki and Wally?" I asked. I didn't hear them or see them. The party had been cleared out.

"I don't know. They left, said they'd be back soon." Hoagie climbed onto the mattress beside me and I held his hand, falling asleep yet again.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yay! Chapter 2! I didn't get alot of hits on this story...so I'm not sure it actually appeals to people but it is so amazingly fun to write, so I'm going to keep up with it. For the record, this says nothing about how I view the members of the illustrious Sector V. I love them all dearly and honestly hope they never end up like this :D haha**

Chapter 2

The pattern of water drops from the shower interrupted my dreams. I looked over at the clock, 6:45. The friggin' shower had woke me up again. Hoagie came out of the bathroom, soaking wet. "Oh, you're awake," he noticed.

"Kinda," I replied. I gave him a once over. "Boy, why do not have a towel on?"

"Oh, well, when you and Kooks aren't up, we don't use them." Hoagie nodded at me like this made perfect sense. Maybe I wasn't really awake yet.

"You walk around naked?" I repeated.

"It saves towels!" he said.

I stared at him. "Well, can you please tell Wally I'm up before I see something I can never un-see?" I sat up and pulled on one of Hoagie's huge sweat-shirts. Hoagie is not as chubby as when we were kids, but he will always be 'big', and I like that. I was in the mood for some eggs, I realized as I walked over to the kitchen. I pulled out the skillet.

"I had cereal," Wally's voice said from behind me. I turned around. He had a towel, thank the lord. "Who said it was for you?"Hoagie appeared behind me and wrapped his arms around my middle. I leaned back to kiss his chin.

"Yeah, back off, Beatles," Hoagie added.

Kuki walked sleepily from the bedroom. "Hey, Kuki, want some eggs?" I asked, grinning at Wally.

Hoagie, Kuki, and I ate our eggs and then I went back to sleep. 7 was much too early to be awake. I woke up again at around 11. Wally and Kuki were out, but Hoagie, Nigel, Ace, and Patton were in the living room. On Saturdays, Hoagie only has one class, at 7:15, and then he is home for the rest of the day. There was a football game at the school, boys against girls. I was going to watch everyone else play and go with them to the after party. The game wasn't until 5, but I went to shower and get dressed. I was about to step out of the shower when Ace walked in to pee.

"ACE! GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE!" I screamed, covering myself with a towel.

"I have to pee," he said, lifting the lid of the toilet.

"There is another bathroom, genius!" I kicked his shin.

"Alright, ella esta loca." Ace slipped into his native tongue as he left the room. I might hate that boy if he wasn't so good looking.

"Shut up," I retorted. I probably should've showered in the bathroom with a lock. I dried off, got dressed, and went to have lunch. "There's never anything to eat here," I moaned. Finally, I found some pop-tarts in a cabinet. "How old are these?" I held them up so Hoagie could see them.

"Oh, man, you found my pop-tarts?" He hopped over the couch to come get one. Hoagie opened the bag to find a green mass of pop- tart remains. "Well, that's gross."

"I'm starving. We need to go to the store," I said peering into the empty fridge.

"My mom told me last week she was bringing us some food." Hoagie looked into the empty fridge as well.

"I need to eat. Don't make me use the pregnant card," I replied, giving a warning look.

"Let's go out to eat," Patton suggested. He looked like he had an awful hangover, serves him right for spilling that stupid beer.

"Best idea that fool's ever had." I pointed at Patton with my thumb.

"We should go to La Mesa, it's like this cheap restaurant on campus," Nigel piped in.

Patton laughed. "I think we should do exactly the opposite of what Nigel wants."

Hoagie, Ace, and I joined in. "I'm all for that," Hoagie added.

"Come on guys," Nigel pouted. We made fun of him a lot, it was bad. But he was a trouper.

"So, B-Dawgs. I'm glad we all agree on it," Patton decided. B-Dawgs was Patton's gangster name for a restaurant down the road called Bar and Grille.

"Where are Kuki and Wally, though?" I asked. The boys all shrugged. "I'm gonna call her," I decided. I walked into the bedroom where it was quieter.

Hoagie followed me in. "Why do you have to call Kuki?" He shut the door behind him.

"Well, I don't know. Ace walked in on Abby in the shower." I hadn't planned on telling him, but whatever.

"SAY WHAT?" Hoagie exploded. He left the room quickly to yell at Ace.

I turned back to my phone call. "Hey, where are you guys? We wanna eat," I asked.

"Walking in the door as we speak!" Kuki giggled. I heard the door swing open.

I walked out of the bedroom and grabbed Kuki by the arm. Her long, dark hair swung out behind her as I dragged her in to the kitchen. "What's the matter, silly?" she asked.

"Ace walked in on Abby in the shower today," I whispered to her. Wally was looking at us funny.

Kuki gasped, which made her features look cartoon-like. "What is with that boy and girls that are obviously taken?" She was referring to the crush Ace had on her for years that ended when he became good friends with Wally. We giggled about this for a while.

After lunch, everyone went home to get ready for the game. I decided to stay home because my back was bothering me again. I mostly watched TV and, of course, ended up falling asleep. The door slamming shut woke me. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!" Hoagie called. "Feeling any better?"

"I guess. How was the game?" I asked.

Hoagie kissed me on the forehead. "Well, all the guys were afraid to hit the girls so…we lost. However, we're having the after-party. So put your party face on, baby!"

I got up and went to go change. The pants I was wearing were too tight. I was running low on pants that fit; I'd have to buy some new ones. Kuki walked in the door and hung up her coat. "I need pants," I told her.

"Um, sorry?" She looked down at her tiny frame. Right, Kuki was smaller than me before I got pregnant even, that was stupid.

Hoagie was digging through the boxes that we kept our clothes in. He held up a pair of black sweat pants. "She can't wear those," Kuki exclaimed.

"They're fine," I said. I let Kuki decorate them while we waited for people to show up. The guys were first. Patton was already drunk. "We should invest in a tarp so he don't destroy our carpet," I said to Kuki.

"No kidding," she giggled. We were sitting on my mattress, which had a perfect view of the door and the party. After around 20 people arrived, we decided to go enjoy the party. Kuki went to find Wally.

"My pants!" A voice behind me cried out.

I turned around. "Hey, Abby's been looking for you!" And, what do you know; Hoagie was staring at my boobs again. "Boy, don't you start that again. Eyes up here." I smiled at him.

"Hey, preggers," Patton slurred. "Want something to drink?" It was almost impossible to believe Patton could be more idiotic when you saw him sober. Then you saw him drunk. I pushed him, he fell over.

I dragged Hoagie over to our bed. We sat down. "What's the best part about being pregnant?" he asked me. He was rubbing my back in small circles.

"Abby likes knowing the little one depends on her for everything. I hope I'm doing a good job, ya know?"

Hoagie nodded his head. "You're doing awesome, Abs. I know this wasn't how we wanted things to happen, but I'm so glad you are the way you are." He kissed me.

Around 1 or so, people started to clear out. I fell asleep to Hoagie rubbing my back. I woke up at noon Sunday morning, everyone was watching TV.

"Kuki, come here!" I called from the mattress.

She hopped off Wally's lap and walked over to me. "I didn't know you were up."

"The baby's kicking like crazy!" I pressed her tiny hand up against my small bump. "Hoagie, get over here."

"Oh, Lourdes!" Kuki sang. I rolled my eyes. "This is your Auntie Kuki and I love you!"

Hoagie pressed his hand up too and a smile broke out on his face. "That's so cool." Eventually, the baby stopped kicking and they walked back over to the couch.

"Have you guys eaten?" I asked. I walked over to the fridge with the hope that possibly over night we had acquired food. No such luck.

"No," Nigel responded.

"Wanna go to the grocery store with me, Kuki?" I walked over to the bathroom to change and wash my face. I stopped. "Where the heck is the door?" I exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah," Wally began. "It fell off the hinges last night while you were asleep." Kuki handed me and baggy shirt with beads all over it.

"How am I supposed to take a shower?" I asked her.

"I guess you have to wake up before the moochers show up," Kuki said. She pulled on her bright pink high-tops.

"And before Wally wakes up. Abby is not happy about this, girl." I pulled on the shirt and found some pants that weren't too tight.

"Well," Kuki smiled. "I can help you with the Wally issue." We stood by the door. "One of you boys needs to go shopping with us!"

"Yeah, right," Patton laughed.

"Do I need to remind you of the man outside the other day? He had a gun!" I said loudly.

Kuki, who had not heard this story, took in a sharp breath. "I'm living until I am one-hundred and that day is not today! One of you come with us RIGHT NOW!" Sometimes, I swear I can see fire in that girl's eyes when she is angry.

"Fine," Nigel sighed. He picked a sweatshirt off the back of a chair on his way over.

"Thanks, Nigel," Kuki and I chorused.

When we got back from shopping, I was tired considering we didn't have a car and I was carrying around ten extra pounds. "Abs, you're sweating," Hoagie noticed as he helped us with the bags on our way in.

I placed a hand on my belly. "I feel like I'm carrying about 50 million extra pounds."

By the time we had eaten, it was 4 and I was due for a nap. All the guys left after lunch. "Abby!" Hoagie yelled from the bathroom, waking me up.

I walked into the door-less bathroom. "Put some clothes on, boy! Kuki's gonna see you!" I tried to flatten some sticking up pieces of his auburn hair. He smiled at me and pulled me to him. "Stop it! You're getting me all wet!" I pulled a towel around him and exited the room with him in tow.

I stopped on the way to our mattress, realizing it was much too quiet. "Where're Kuki and Wally?" I asked.

"Oh, they left during your deep sleep." He put on boxers and a t-shirt.

I looked at the clock, it was 8. "I'm sorry I sleep so much, baby. I just get so worn out."

Hoagie took my face between his large hands and smiled. "Whatever's best for the baby, right? Anyway, they're getting books to study for finals with. They're bringing some home for me; I didn't want to leave you alone."

"Oh, OK. Do you wanna eat?" I realized that all I did these days was eat and sleep. Sweet.

Hoagie started fixing me a sandwich and I sat down at the table. I started slowly winding my hair into a braid. I wouldn't be able to watch TV; I'd have to find a book or something so I didn't disturb Wally, Hoagie, and Kuki from studying. "I think we should talk about names." I reached over to grab a notebook and pen.

"Hmm…Rainstorm Gilligan?" Hoagie suggested, glancing out the window.

"Funny," I responded sarcastically, "but, I do like Raine for a girl." I wrote it down.

"For a boy…not Hoagie. I'm putting that out there right now. No matter what my mother says, Abby, you can't give in. How about...Brady? I like that." He smiled.

I smiled back and added it next to Raine. "Brady it is." I set the paper down on the table and started to eat my sandwich. The paper sat on the table for weeks before anyone noticed it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kuki and I stood at the counter adding stick on jewels to the new plates we had just bought. "What's this?" she asked, tearing a piece of paper off a pad. She handed it to me.

"Oh, these were the baby's names." I returned to bejeweling the plate.

"You picked them out? Without telling me? I thought he was a boy?" Kuki looked confusedly at 'Raine'.

I put the plate down. "It was a while ago, before we knew I was having a boy. Brady," I smiled. "Hey, Hoagie!" He walked into the kitchen, looking pissed. I'd forgotten about the fight we had earlier for a second. "It's Brady."

"I know," he replied quietly. Hoagie ruffled my hair and walked away.

Kuki raised an eyebrow at me. "I'll tell you later." The phone rang I went to pick it up. On the other end, a giggling girl asked for Ace.

I gave Ace the phone and he went in to the bedroom to talk to the girl. When he was done, he hung the phone back up. "Hey guys," he said, turning off the TV, "some people are going over to Stork's to toilet paper and some other crap." Bartie Stork was the quarterback of the football team and any time the team won his friends would toilet paper his house.

Hoagie grabbed his sweatshirt. "Sweet, I forgot they won!" The guys all left.

"OK! I've been trying to wait, but I can't anymore!" Kuki exclaimed. "I have something super-duper important to tell you!"

"What?" I asked crabbily. I hadn't slept nearly enough in the last few days and things weren't going too great with Hoagie and I.

"Wally proposed!" she gushed. Kuki paused and waited for me to say something.

"That's great, girl," I said lamely. That stupid fight! Tears started to fill my eyes. "Kooks."

"What's wrong?" Concern flooded her face. Even though the boys called her 'Kooks' all the time, I rarely did. She knew something was up.

"Hoagie and I got into this fight today about whether or not I tried to get pregnant on purpose. I don't even know where he got that idea, probably from Patton or something." We had ended up in Kuki's room and I lay down on the bed.

"You didn't, right?" she asked quietly.

"Of course not!" I exploded. "Why on earth would Abby want a baby now? I'm nineteen! I just want to have fun!" Kuki wrapped her arms around me.

"How did that topic even come up?"

"I don't know. Out of the blue he just asked if I had been on the pill and I hadn't been because I didn't think we were gonna…well you know. And then he said I should've stopped him and I said it takes two to tango, boy. Then he said the baby was a mistake and Abby's pretty sure she said marriage was a mistake," I explained.

Kuki's eyes got round and she gasped. "No you didn't! You have to talk to him, Abby." She wiped a tear off my cheek.

"I guess…" I whispered.

Later on, the guys came back and Kuki wanted to go out. I didn't want to hold Hoagie back just because I didn't feel up to it. He left with them. I sat in bed and thought of what I could possibly say to Hoagie to make this better.

I answered the phone when it rang. It was Hoagie. "Come downstairs," he said. I was so happy to hear him wanting me. I grabbed my jacket and shoes and locked the door on my way out. Hoagie was waiting in the lobby. He took my hand and led my out of our building. We walked for a while, getting closer and closer to the good side of town.

"Where are you taking me, boy?" I asked because I was curious, but also because my feet were hurting a little.

"You'll see." He was studying the number on each building intently. Hoagie led me into a very nice apartment complex. We entered the elevator and he pressed 5. The doors opened. We walked down the hall before he stopped me at a door and pulled a key from his pocket. Why did he have a key to this apartment? He dragged me inside. "Honey, I'm home!" Hoagie yelled.

Inside the front hall were a crib, stroller, car seat, and other baby stuff. When I had gotten over the initial shock, I turned and planted a huge one on him. "You are amazing! How can we even afford this?" All our extra money went towards our 'buy a safer apartment' fund. Maybe he had used that.

"Well, seeing as my grandma finally croaked, my mom got into her bank accounts. And it turns out the old hag was loaded, filthy rich! And all those years she just sat there and hit us with her cane! Anyway, my mom bought the apartment."

"THE APARTMENT'S OURS!" I shrieked.

"Yup and then I used our apartment fund for all the baby stuff. I love you, Abs. I want the baby to have everything it could ever need. I'm sorry about earlier," he said quietly.

"Abby thinks we should just pretend it never happened." I smiled at him. "Give me a tour, Gilligan! How big is this place anyway?"

"Oh, you know, pretty modest. 3 bed, 3 bath, kitchen, family room, and laundry room!" He finished excitedly.

"Oh my God! That's huge!" Hoagie grabbed my hand to pull me through our mansion of an apartment.

"Here's our room." I peered inside. A bed! That alone was enough for me after months of sleeping on that mattress. "This'll be the nursery….and this is Wally and Kuki's room."

"Wally and Kuki get to stay!" This was turning out to be one of the best days ever.

Even though we weren't moving in for a couple weeks, Kuki and I were very excited and started planning everything. We moved all the baby stuff into the nursery and bought paint when it was on sale so that Kuki could paint the walls. Hoagie got a raise at his job and he let me buy a new slip cover for the awful couch and a new rug. However, we planned to put these things away whenever Patton was around and beer was within reach. Soon, I entered my third trimester and the baby was kicking like crazy all the time. I was getting anxious.

"What's this?" Hoagie asked, approaching me with a liquor bottle in hand. It was empty.

"Where'd you get it?" I turned the bottle over in my hands.

"It was over by our mattress; I'm trying to get the last of our stuff packed up. You haven't been drinking, right?" Hoagie looked at me with his pale blue eyes. I knew he wasn't accusing me; he was just worried.

"No!" I placed both of my hands on my huge belly. "Of course not. It's probably from some party or something!" I tossed it in the trash just as the door opened. All the guys walked in. "You know, there are a lot of things we could've been doing that you guys wouldn't have wanted to see," I said to the three guys standing in front of me. I put an arm around Hoagie's waist.

Patton gave me a once over. "I can't think of any," he smirked. He hopped over the back of the couch and turned on MTV.

"I can't wait to move," I said, exasperated, turning back to Hoagie. "We are not making them keys." I went over to the kitchen and started chopping lettuce.

"I can't wait to move," Hoagie replied, "because we'll get to do more things that no one wants to see." He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck.

After we ate, I looked around at the apartment. There was hardly anything that hadn't been packed up in a box. "I guess we can start moving stuff tomorrow," Wally said with a grin. He washed the salad bowl and put it in the box labeled 'kitchen'.

Over by the TV, Patton looked down at the rug. "I'm gonna miss this thing," he sighed. "So many memories…or lack of, for that matter."

"Oh, don't worry, buddy," Hoagie reassured him. "That's making the move with us. You will not be ruining the new rug or hard wood floor."

"We might also buy a tarp," I joked. I glanced over at Kuki; I hadn't heard her tinkling laugh at our joke. She looked really upset. I followed her into the bedroom when she left. "Hey, Kuki, I wanted to talk to you about something," I said as I walked into the bathroom. She had sat on the bed. "I was talking to Fanny Fulbright on the phone yesterday and…" I trailed off having discovered something I probably wasn't supposed to. An unopened pregnancy test. "Girl, what is this?" I stood in the doorway with one hand on my hip. The other held the box.

Kuki looked down at her lap. "You know what it is," she said nervously.

"Kooks, why didn't you tell Abby about this? You're supposed to tell me everything!" I walked over to the bed and sat next to her.

"Abby, I'm scared," Kuki whispered. She leaned her head against my shoulder.

"Well, go take it. Abby'll stay right here." I folded my legs Indian style beneath me and placed both hands atop my belly.

"I'm only like couple weeks late." She was making up excuses. I handed her the test and put on my sternest look. Five minutes later she walked out of the bathroom with the test and a look of complete hopelessness. I had never seen my usually bubbly friend look so sad.

"It'll all work out, Kuki. You're gonna be a mom! You always wanted that." These words sounded fake even to me.

The door quietly opened. "What are you two doing in here?" a thick, Australian accent asked. Kuki's tear-filled eyes looked at Wally. "K-kooks? Why are you crying?" He looked back and forth from me to Kuki, searching for an answer. Kuki extended a shaking arm and gave the test to Wally. "Crud," he whispered.

"Do you want Abby to leave?" I asked Kuki. She nodded slowly. I left hoping nothing bad would happen between Wally and Kuki. I ignored the guys and went straight over to my mattress. Things were definitely going to change around here. I hoped for the best.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next day, we started moving things from one apartment to the other. Wally and Kuki were silent most of the day. Hoagie, Nigel, Patton, and Ace were confused by this, seeing as they didn't know about the current situation.

"What's wrong, man?" Hoagie asked Wally as they walked along the street, arms full of boxes.

"Just leave him be, Hoagie," I warned.

I only made it through two trips before I was too tired. I stayed at the new apartment while everyone else finished with the boxes. I ended up falling asleep in our new bed. When I woke up two hours later, Kuki was sitting next to me, crying.

"Abby, I'm just really, really scared and Wally doesn't seem to wanna talk about it much and I just don't want to have a baby," Kuki cried.

I hugged her. "It's gonna be alright, Kuki. You just have to take things one step at a time."

The door opened and Hoagie walked in with a box labeled 'Hoagie and Abs Clothes'. "Sorry," he muttered. He noticed Kuki's tears and gave us a quizzical look.

"Its fine." I climbed off the bed and pulled on a sweatshirt over my tank top. Kuki seemed about to fall asleep, so I left her. The guys were all over, sitting on the new couch watching TV. "Where's Wally?" I asked.

"Who cares?" Ace replied. "He's being so quiet. There's something wrong with him." Nigel and Patton laughed.

I glared at each of them separately before walking into Kuki and Wally's new bedroom. He wasn't there. I went into the next room over, the nursery. He was in there. I shut the door after entering. He glanced up at me and wiped his sleeve across his face to cover up the tears. "Hey, sport, Abby's sorry everyone's acting like such fools."

"Its fine," Wally replied quietly. "They don't know what the crud they're talking about anyway."

"Well, I'm considering giving them a good whoopin' anyway."

"Abs!" Hoagie called.

I looked at Wally. "Go on," he smiled. "You're the best, Abby. Thanks."

I walked out of the nursery. I noticed Patton and Ace were still watching TV, Nigel was opening the fridge, and Hoagie was digging through a box. "We haven't gone to the store yet," I reminded Nigel. I approached Hoagie.

"Kooks wants you," he told me, not looking up from the box.

I walked into our bedroom and found Kuki still curled up on the bed like I left her. "Girl, get off your butt and go talk to Wally. He is just as upset as you and this is something you guys need to go through together. Now, scoot!" Kuki let me pull her up into a standing position. She wrapped her willowy arms around me and left, the usual skip to her step was missing.

I exited the room soon after and found four sets of his trained on me, 3 blue and 1 brown. "What's up with them?" Hoagie asked.

"Yeah," Nigel agreed. "Something is going on there."

"And you know what it is. I can tell," Patton finished.

I opened one of the kitchen boxes and started putting away the plates and such. "No dice, boys. Abby's not saying a thing."

"Not even to me?" Hoagie looked directly into my eyes.

I shook my head; I wasn't going to give in that easily. "Nope."

"Did you promise not to tell us or something?" Ace questioned.

Sighing, I put down the plate I was holding. "No, it's just one of those things you don't tell people unless it's yours to tell!" I walked out of the room and shut myself in the bedroom. Hoagie followed in a few seconds. "Hoagie, I can't tell you. You're just gonna tell Nigel, Patton, and Ace."

"Please, Abs?" He rubbed my back in slow circles.

I caved. "Kuki's pregnant."

He sat down next to me on the bed. "Crap, we were jerks." Hoagie ran his fingers through his auburn hair.

"You got that right, baby." I started folding our clothes and putting them in the dresser. Hoagie was hanging things up in the closet. When we finished putting away the clothes, we left the room. The guys stared at us. I walked into the kitchen and hung up our calendar. "4 weeks until my due date!" I noticed.

"She told you," Patton's voice said. I turned to find him pointing an accusatory finger at Hoagie.

"So…?" I responded.

"So that sucks ass, man!"

Kuki and Wally walked out of the nursery and a hush came over the room. "So," Hoagie started, "celebratory moving-in dinner anyone?"

"B-Dawgs," Patton said, as if only his opinion mattered.

"Whatever," I replied, going back into my bedroom to change. Kuki followed me in. "How'd it go?" I asked after the door had been closed.

"Everything's fantastic," she smiled. She dug around in the drawers, looking for something to decorate.

"That's good. And here," I threw her a a plain white shirt from Hoagie's side of the closet, "this could use something."

"I like the way you think, Abby Gilligan," Kuki giggled. She skipped out of the room and came back moments later with a hot glue gun, feathers, fabric paint, beads, and thread. 10 minutes later the shirt was complete.

"Baby, get in here!" I yelled, opening the door a crack. The guys made immature noises as Hoagie walked towards the room. He looked suspiciously at Kuki and me.

"What'd you two do?" Kuki tossed him the t-shirt. He inspected it for a while before throwing it done on the bed. "Not bad."

"Are you gonna wear it?" Kuki asked, smiling cutely.

"Yeah right," he laughed, leaving the room.

Kuki and I cracked up. "Girl, Abby needs something good to wear," I said, looking down at my sweats.

Kuki tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Oh, I know!" she exclaimed. "I got this really cute shirt the other day and fixed it up. It's baggy so it should fit you!"

We walked over to her room and she dug through a couple boxes. Kuki and Wally hadn't started unpacking yet. She handed me the shirt. It was pink and had beads around the sleeves and collar. It wasn't my usual style, but I put it on anyway.

Hoagie, Wally, Kuki, and I took a cab to the restaurant. Nigel, Patton, and Ace raced us there by foot. We won because there wasn't any traffic. After we ate, the guys wanted to stick around for some beers. Kuki and I got a cab and went home because we couldn't drink.

"Hey, Kuki?" I asked after going to the bathroom and putting on sweats again.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna rent some movies or something? We can sleep on the couch and just relax," I suggested.

Kuki smiled at me. "OMG yes! I'll go get blankets and pillows!" she sang, skipping into the nursery.

A few minutes later, she came back and we made a bed on the couch. The baby was kicking a lot, just like he did most nights. "You are driving me crazy, kid!" I yelled at my belly. I could see little bumps from his feet on my skin.

"Abby, you're so silly sometimes," Kuki giggled, sitting down with popcorn and a Diet coke. We rented _A Lot Like Love, The Time Traveler's Wife, _and _Finding Neverland_. Wally and Hoagie cam home at the end of _Finding Neverland_. It was probably around three in the morning, so Kuki and I were overtired and we couldn't hold back our tears. "I love this movie!" Hoagie crowed, pushing aside my legs to make room for himself. Wally stood awkwardly at the side of the couch and he gave Hoagie a look like he was on drugs.

"Why are you girls crying? It's just a cruddy movie" he asked.

"It's awful," Kuki sobbed. "Those poor boys! Their mom just like dies!"

I nodded my head in agreement. "Gets me everytime," Hoagie murmured.

Wally rolled his blue eyes. "Well, move over already. Patton's wasted. He needs a place to crash." Wally took one of Kuki's ankles and pulled until she hit the floor.

"Hey," she pouted, standing up and rubbing her butt.

"One sec!" I ran over to a closet and pulled out the old rug. I rolled up the new one and Hoagie put it in the corner. Wally helped Patton onto the couch. "Do you need barf bags?" I asked him. He just groaned.

"I'll get them just in case," Kuki decided. She skipped into the kitchen and grabbed three large garbage bags. We laid them out.

"Alright, troupes," Hoagie said. "Let's go to bed." He put an arm around my shoulders and I smiled up at him.

The next morning I woke up at noon and went to shower in our huge bathroom. I changed into the shirt Kuki had decorated the night before that Hoagie wouldn't wear and a pair of pants with the elastic sewn in the top. I had avoided these pants as long as possible, but eventually, it had to happen.

I walked out into the main room. All the guys were watching TV. "Where's Kuki?" I asked, seeing she wasn't with them. She usually didn't sleep this late.

"Grocery store," Wally replied, eyes still glued to the screen.

About fifteen minutes later, Kuki showed up with one bag of groceries. She unlaced her pink high-tops and tugged them off. I looked in the bag. "Girl, what in the world are we gonna do with this much yogurt?"

Kuki laughed. "I don't know. I just felt like yogurt, so I bought some yogurt."

Nigel got up from the couch and joined me and Kuki at the table. "Are you going to tell us what's up?" he asked.

Kuki looked at our friend. We had known him for so long, he deserved to know. She took a long sip from her water bottle and eyed him carefully. "I'm pregnant," Kuki said simply.

Patton and Ace whipped their heads around to us. "No shit?" Ace said.

"I kid you not," Kuki replied.

"Well, shit! We're douche bags. Sorry, Kooks," Patton responded sincerely.

And even though it wasn't particularly funny, Kuki and I looked at each other and dissolved into giggles. Soon, the guys joined in too. We had some pretty good friends in the long run.

* * *

**A/N: The next chapter of this might be awhile because it isn't written at all yet. And I'm having an awful writer's block issue with one of my other fics, Familiar. Blah! But anyway, hope you enjoyed this! And if anyone has ideas for Kuki and Wally's baby's name, feel free to share it (boy or girl, I haven't decided yet) :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Ha! I lied big time about this taking a while. And I actually have another chapter written too. Yet, I still haven't worked at all on Familiar. I want to punch something. Enjoy!**

Chapter 5

A few days later, I was washing dishes at the sink when the phone rang. I waddled over and picked it up. Everyone was there, but they were actually doing productive things instead of watching TV, like studying. "Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, Abby, it's Tommy." Hoagie's younger brother, _lovely_.

"Talk to me, kid." I turned back towards the sink with the phone stuck between my ear and shoulder. Tommy rarely called us. He was seventeen and most likely just had better things to do. So I knew this was something possibly important.

"My mom is coming to see you guys. Something about 'knowing where her money is going'. I'm giving you a heads-up. She thinks she's going to surprise you and Hoagie," Tommy explained.

I sighed. "I was hoping for some good news. How long do you think we got?"

"You probably have twenty or thirty minutes. Oh, and she wants to stay until the baby comes."

I glanced around. The apartment was a mess. We were screwed. "Alright, thanks for letting Abby know, kid. I gotta go now." I hung up the phone. "If you don't live here, get out!" I called as I walked over to the kitchen table.

"We're busy," Nigel replied. His nose was about to inches away from the book he was studying.

"Hoagie's mom is coming," I warned.

Nigel immediately closed his book and stood up to leave. Let's clear something up. There wasn't anything "wrong" exactly with Mrs. Gilligan. She was just a little high-strung and nit-picky. Patton and Ace stood up to leave also.

Hoagie dropped his forehead down to the table. "My mom's coming?"

"Abby just got off the phone with Tommy. We've got twenty minutes." I started cleaning off the table. "And, when she gets here, we have to act surprised and excited. Tommy wasn't supposed to tell us she was coming. Act natural."

Hoagie leaned over and kissed me. "Is that natural enough?"

"Well, we do have twenty minutes…"

* * *

A knock. Twenty minutes really isn't that long. "Who is it?" Hoagie asked, knowing exactly who it was.

"Your mother, Hoagie!"

"Really?" Hoagie mocked. "Well, hey, mom. I'll just unlock the door. Hold on a sec!" He looked into the peep-hole and laughed.

After the door was opened, Mrs. Gilligan stood in the front hall of our apartment. "I'm going to stay with you kids until the baby comes, isn't that great?"

I smiled fakely. "Fantastic, don't you think, baby?" I glanced at Hoagie. He nodded.

She dropped her bag and hung her coat up on a hook.

"Well," Hoagie said. "You can come say hi to Kuki and Wally. I'm sure they'd just love to see you, Mom." He walked her over to the couch where Kuki and Wally were sitting.

"Hi, Mrs. Gilligan," Kuki smiled. Wally waved awkwardly.

Mrs. Gilligan glanced around at the apartment. "This place is clean. Who cleans here? I know it must not be you, Hoagie P. Gilligan, you definitely are not a clean one." Hoagie's mom also thought he was the "bad" one. Her precious baby, Tommy, would never knock up a girl at nineteen. At least, that's what Hoagie believes.

"I clean mostly," I replied. "I don't really have much else to do, being pregnant and all."

For the first time, her eyes landed on my belly. "And how is Hoagie P. Gilligan the Third?" Mrs. Gilligan asked, placing a hand on my stomach.

Hoagie shook his head fiercely. "No way, Mom, no way. We aren't naming the baby that."

"But, Hoagie, don't you think your father would've wanted…" Hoagie's father died when Hoagie was seven.

"Don't pull that card with me, Mom. It isn't going to happen. Period. The end."

Mrs. Gilligan brushed this off and walked into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and an appalled look filled her face. "Dearie, some of this food is just disgusting," she commented, tossing out some moldy, left over, tacos.

"Mom, can you just leave it? Abby has the kitchen organized how she likes it, OK?" Hoagie was already getting sick of his mom. There was no way we would make it through 3 weeks of this.

"Alrighty, I'll just go watch TV." Hoagie went to set up the TV for her, leaving Kuki, Wally, and I in the kitchen.

"She can't stay here," Wally whined. "That'd mean no parties."

Hoagie walked back into the kitchen, fiddling with his auburn hair. "I can't do it," he moaned.

"Yeah," Wally started, "about that. Neither can we." Kuki nodded her ebony head.

"Abby has an idea." I walked over to the couch. "Betty? Kuki, Wally, Hoagie, and I were going to go on a date tonight. You know, like a double date? It's been a while since we've all been out. I can't go out that often anymore." I sat down next to her.

"Oh, you poor thing. I wouldn't want to ruin any plans. And I know you and Hoagie are working so hard to make this work. Young marriages usually never last." Mrs. Gilligan turned away from the TV to look at me.

"I love your son," I responded. Hopefully she would understand this. That was what kept me and Hoagie together through the craziness.

"You two don't need me," she said. "Maybe I'll just come back a few days before the baby comes."

I felt bad about how upset she seemed, but my idea had worked. "Yeah, I think that sounds great." I wrapped my arms around her shoulders. I wasn't usually very touchy, but Hoagie was, so I figured his mom would appreciate that.

"I'm glad my Hoagie found a girl like you." Mrs. Gilligan picked up her bag and jacket and walked out the door after saying goodbye to Hoagie.

As soon as the door slammed, Hoagie wrapped me in his arms. "You are beautiful, Abigail Gilligan. Magnificent. A life saver. A miracle worker."

I laughed. "So, that date still on?" Kuki asked.

"You know it, girl."

* * *

As per the suggestion Nigel had made a few months ago, we went to La Mesa. It turned out to be really good and for the next couple of week we went there instead of B-Dawgs (despite Patton's protests). Kuki, Wally, Hoagie, and I went there after their classes one day.

I pushed myself up from the table. "I have to go to the bathroom," I announced.

Kuki looked up from her salad. "Is this one of those times when I'm supposed to come too?" she asked.

I rolled my eyes and lumbered over to the bathroom. I walked like a 400 lb man. Kuki, who had a small bump beneath her top, skipped alongside me. I pushed open the door of the bathroom and leaned against the wall. "What's up, chica?" Kuki asked.

"Abby might be in labor." I put a hand on my lower back.

Kuki's eyes got round. "Oh!" She grabbed my other hand. "Well, what are we in the bathroom for then, silly?"

"Abby don't know," I moaned. "But I think my water just broke." I was panicking, but I never panic, so I had to play it down. Sometimes, it was nice that Kuki's main setting is panic.

We flew out of the bathroom, Kuki tugging me along by the hand. "BABY ON THE WAY!" She screamed. Hoagie immediately jumped out of his seat and wrapped an arm around my waist.

"It's all gonna be, alright, Abs. I promise," Hoagie whispered in my ear. In any other situation, this probably would've calmed me down. But, between the contractions and Kuki's yelling, nothing was going to calm me. Wally trailed behind us, put off from these sorts of things by nature.

The four of us hopped into a cab and were off to the hospital. And after an hour or so of labor, Brady P. Gilligan was born into the world. He had brown skin ("Oh, Abby," Hoagie had whispered) and brown eyes ("He's adorable!" Kuki had exclaimed) and a few tufts of brown hair ("Is the kid _supposed_ to be this small?" Wally had asked). And he was perfect.

But, he was also a week and a half early. Mrs. Gilligan wouldn't be very happy when she heard. And neither would my parents for that matter. However, I took one look at the baby that slept in my arms and the boy that leaned over my shoulder with a look of complete adoration on his face and decided that these things could wait a day or two.

**A/N: For the record, Hoagie loves his mommy, he just doesn't want to share his apartment with her. Totally understandable I think :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: The Chapter where things get extra dramatic:**

Chapter 6

Brady wasn't exactly a walk in the park. He would wake up four times most nights and wouldn't always eat. He didn't like Wally. He adored Kuki (no surprise there). But, he was my baby. He was what we had waited on for nearly nine months. Brady was exactly everything we loved.

The first few weeks dragged. Hoagie and I were residents in a new time zone known as 'Brady'. We slept when he slept, ate only after he had. And so, between all of this, I had forgotten something I had meant to tell everyone about months ago.

A few knocks at the door. "Hello?" a thickly Irish voice called. "Will someone let me in already?"

Hoagie glanced at the door. "Is that…?" He looked confused, as he should. I groaned as I realized that I had completely forgotten the promise I made to the girl on the other side of the door.

"Um…yeah," I said nervously. I propped Brady up over my shoulder and went to let her in.

Fanny Fulbright was every bit the obnoxious, sexist red-head she had been when we were kids. She and I weren't exactly the closest friends, but Fanny had wanted to start classes in the middle of the semester and couldn't get housing. Hoagie looked down at the bag at her side. "What is going on here?" he asked, glancing from me to Fanny and back again.

Fanny's green eyes peered at me. "You didn't tell them!"

"Abby just had a baby for crying out loud! I forgot!" I turned to look at Hoagie. "I told Fanny she could stay with us a couple months ago. I was going to tell you guys but then Kuki found out she was pregnant and Brady came and it must've just slipped Abby's mind."

"Great, fantastic, just what we need! Well, I'll go tell Kuki and Wally." Hoagie left angrily for the other room.

I looked over at Fanny. She didn't exactly appear "upset", but Hoagie wasn't what I'd call hospitable regardless, so I felt like I should apologize. "He'll get over it, girl. We want you here."

"Doubtful," she sneered.

Kuki entered the room. "Hi, Fanny! I know the boys are being meanies, but I'm happy you're here! When all the guys come over, Abby and I are more than a little outnumbered."

Fanny laughed and we relocated to the couch. I finished feeding Brady while Kuki and Fanny talked about the latest Rainbow Monkeys (I guess there are some things you never grow out of). I got up to put Brady down and Patton walked in. "Don't worry, don't worry," he shouted. "I finally made it! I know you guys hate to start the party without…" His eyes got wide as he stared at something behind my head. "What is _that_ doing here?"

"Hello, Patton," Fanny spat.

Hoagie and Wally entered the room as well. "Oh, crud," Wally muttered noticing Patton and Fanny.

"I live here now, for your information, boy. Isn't that right, Abby?"

I didn't want to be dragged into whatever issue there was between Patton and Fanny, but I nodded my head.

"What the hell? Why do you have to ruin everything, Fulbright?" Patton turned and left the apartment without another word. I could get used to that.

* * *

One day I came home from the doctor with Brady to find Kuki and Wally sitting at the kitchen table. The phone sat in front of them, forgotten, as Kuki wrapped her arms around Wally and placed her chin atop his head. "I love you," Kuki whispered.

I didn't know what was going on and I didn't want to interrupt them. I carried Brady into my bedroom and placed him in his cradle. The toilet in the connected bathroom flushed and Hoagie walked out. "Oh, hey, Abs. Everything alright with Brady?"

"Yeah, yeah, he's fine. What's going on with Wally, though?" I asked him. I took a seat on the bed and he joined me.

"I'm not sure exactly. Something about the messages. They noticed we had one and no one ever calls here so they listened to it. I wasn't in the room so I couldn't here it, but then Wally started freaking out. I hope it's nothing too bad." Hoagie leaned back into the pillows and put his hands behind his head.

I lay next to him and threw an arm over his middle. "Wally doesn't cry. Well, he cried when he found out Kuki's pregnant. But that's a big deal."

Hoagie looked at me. He knew I was right. This probably was a big deal. "We'll give them some time," he murmured, kissing my hair.

I relaxed into him. I hadn't realized how tired I was. I was always tired. Hoagie and I fell asleep. We woke up a couple hours later because Brady was crying. "Someone's hungry," I said. I stretched my arms above my head and picked up Brady.

Hoagie climbed out of bed. "I'm gonna go check on Kooks and Wally." He left the room.

A few minutes later he came back with a stricken look on his face. "Abs, you probably want to come out here."

This wasn't good. I went through every bad thing that I could think of. What was going on with Wally? At the table sat Kuki. Wally was no longer with her. "Wally's asleep," she whispered. I couldn't remember her ever sounding so sad. "I got him to fall asleep." Kuki was talking about Wally like he was her child and needed her to take care of him. She looked at me with her light eyes. "His parents died, Abby. In a car crash. An awful, awful car crash." She was crying now. "He's not ever going to be the same! How am I supposed to help him? You know what he gets like. What's going to happen to us?" Kuki moved her hands off the table to her small, yet defined belly. It was instinctive. I had done it too when I thought about bad things, wanting to protect Brady at all costs.

"What about Joey?" I wondered aloud. Wally's little brother was most likely in the car as well.

Kuki sniffed and look back at me. "Joey's fine. Well, as fine as a nine year old little boy whose parents just died can be. Wally will have to go live at home again and take care of him. He wants me to stay here," Kuki whispered the last part.

Wally was going to leave school. He was going to give up becoming a doctor. "No way. Joey has to come and stay here. That's the only thing that makes sense," I said decisively. "I'll watch him and all that when you guys are at school."

Kuki shook her head. "I think that sounds best too. But Wally won't like it. He likes to take care of things himself." She stood up from the table and came over, wrapping both me and Hoagie into a hug. "I think I'm gonna go to sleep."

I turned and stood in front of Hoagie. "Don't ever leave Abby," I told him. "And don't ever die, either. For Brady's sake." Hoagie stroked my cheek with his thumb and then pulled me right up against his chest. Brady was positioned over my shoulder.

"I don't plan on it," Hoagie responded.

At first, I convinced Wally to bring Joey over here by saying that I'd just watch him until he was back on his feet. But, Joey ended up staying. It was going to take Wally years to get over the sudden loss of his parents and Kuki was pregnant and it was one less thing he had to worry about. I didn't mind it. Joey was a good kid.

We were a little cramped now. There were seven of us living in the apartment, Kuki, Wally, Hoagie, Joey, Fanny, Brady, and I. And every month we got closer to having another little occupant. Adjustments were made, however, and life went on.

Joey would have nightmares. Usually once or twice a night he would wake us up. It embarrassed him, since he was nine and not a baby any more. But, we all know he had been through a lot. One night, he woke up crying. I was already up and went to go check on him. I opened the door to the nursery. "You alright, kid?" I asked.

Joey sat up and wiped an arm across his face. "Yeah, a spider bit me. Its fine, I got him." He was so much like Wally that I almost laughed.

"You don't gotta lie to Abby. It's OK to be scared or sad or even angry," I told him.

Joey looked down at his hands. "Wally's never scared," he whispered.

This wasn't true, but I knew why Joey thought it was. Wally pretended to be strong for the people around him, Joey, Kuki. "You are so much like your brother, Joey." This was something the nine year old needed to hear.

Through his bowl shaped blonde hair he looked at me. "I am?"

I sat down at the edge of the futon we had bought for him. "Definitely, kid. Now go on back to sleep," I smiled and ruffled his hair. He cringed away, just like Wally would've.

I got up and turned off the light. Hoagie was standing in the doorway, cradling Brady in his large arms. "Could you be any more of a mom?" he joked.

I took my baby out of his arms. I kissed the top of Brady's head. "I am a mom," I replied.

**A/N: So, while you're reading fanfiction, you should really check out my friend Khallox's Hoagie-centric fic, "The Road Trip". I know he's kind of socially retarded and weird, but he's my friend... so, just promise me you wont make fun of him! Haha, just kidding. I love you, Sam!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It's been a while. OK, maybe three years is a little more than a while, but hey, we have lives here you know. Kuki, Wally, Hoagie, and Fanny are still in school. Brady just had his third birthday and Ash, Wally and Kuki's 'bundle of joy', is at that age where she gets into _everything_. Which, of course, becomes my problem because I watch her most of the day.

Things are pretty normal. The guys are still around 24/7. There was a brief period after Fanny moved in that Patton wouldn't come over. Unfortunately, it was rather short-lived. Now we have to deal with some sort of argument whenever they are within a 10 foot radius of each other.

"Drilovsky! Hand the book over! Now!" a thickly Irish voice screamed.

Choosing to ignore that I possibly felt the windows shake, I side-stepped Ash and Brady on the floor and walked over to Patton. I held my hand out in front of him. After a few seconds, I handed a book over to Fanny. "Problem solved," I said.

"Ash! Get your own truck!" Brady yelled. At least he could say her name now; it used to come out minus the 'h'. He pulled his truck away from the little, dark haired girl.

I gestured at the toddlers and then looked at Fanny and Patton. "This is what you guys act like. Adjust it." Fanny glared at me, grabbed her keys, and left. I turned back to my son. "What do you two want for lunch?" I walked into the kitchen and poked around in the fridge that lately hadn't been empty.

Brady's face lit up. "Peanut butter!" he exclaimed. Of course. Why did I even bother asking? Brady's tiny legs carried him into the kitchen where he opened the pantry to find his equivalent of his dad's chili dog.

"Joey, Ash, get in here! Lunch!" I hollered. It was summer. That's why Joey was around. Everyone was still taking classes into the summer to get some last minute credits. It was just after noon so Hoagie, Ace, Patton, and Nigel were eating too. Some things never change. Those boys would probably still be coming to me for lunch ten years from now. Wally hadn't come home yet.

There were bags of chips strewn haphazardly across the table as well as cans of pop and pieces of lunch meat. I went into the living room and picked up Ash. I gave Joey a glare so he reluctantly followed me into the kitchen. "I know you're almost a 'teen' now or whatever, Joey, but I'm still in charge here," I told him jokingly.

He nodded head, his still bowl-shaped hair shaking. "Got it, Supreme Commander Gilligan." The kid had developed a sense of humor very similar to mine in the past couple years.

Realizing that I hadn't been watching Brady thoroughly, I looked over and he was eating peanut butter straight from the jar. With his hands. On the floor. "Kid, you should really be having some apples with that," I said, shaking my head.

Hoagie wandered in. "That's my boy!" He helped himself to a handful of peanut butter.

I had a vision of peanut butter caked in curly brown hair. Then I had a vision of peanut butter caked in Ash's beautiful ebony hair. Kuki would kill me. "Don't encourage him, Hoagie." I picked up the jar and put some on a paper plate with cut up apples.

"Will you make me macaroni and cheese?" Joey asked from his spot at the table.

"Sure. Ash, you can have that too."

"Abby! I want apples!" Ash moaned. Once she started moaning, it was best to give her what she wanted. The two year old was known for her Kuki-like temper.

I quickly picked her up and planted her next to Brady. "Apples, too. Share 'em, OK?" I could hear some keys jangling in the lock and the doorknob twisting. "I bet that's your daddy."

Ash ran over to the front door, wishing to meet Wally the minute he opened it. Her long hair flew out behind her like a cape. "Daddy!" She raised her arms, wishing to be picked up. Ash knew that when it came to Wally, moaning wasn't even necessary. Her daddy _always_ gave her what she wanted.

"Hey, bug!" Wally picked her up and tossed her tiny body in the air. It was kind of amazing how such a little person could bring out a totally different side of Wally. "Abby's not being too mean, right?" He bent his head close to her ear.

Ash wrapped her little arms possessively around Wally's neck. "No," she giggled. "Abby good!"

Wally placed her down on the floor and shook his blond hair. "Go eat, Ash." He turned to me. "Thanks again, Abs, for watching her all the time. You're the best."

"It's all good," I smiled.

When Kuki came home, she was not in a good mood. She dragged in a way I'd never seen before and she actually sat down to take off her shoes. Kuki never sat down to take off her shoes. "I made you a salad," I told her.

"Fantastic." Kuki brushed past me and into her room. She shut the door behind her.

Knowing something was up, I followed her in. "Kuki, what's up?" I shut the door, quieter, behind me.

Kuki turned to face me. I hadn't noticed when she came in, but her eyes were rimmed red. "Abby, you know how you say I can tell you everything?"

I nodded slowly. I tried to guess what she might need to tell me. "Yeah, girl. Tell Abby."

She took a deep breath, filling her cheeks with air, and let it out slowly. "I'm pregnant again," she whispered.

"How far along?" an accented voice asked. Kuki and I both swung our heads to face the door; it must have fell open a little. Wally's muscular frame filled the door. Kuki looked up at him and started crying. I slipped out of the room as Wally walked over to the bed.

Ash looked up from her lunch as I wandered back into the kitchen. "Where's mommy?" she asked with orange macaroni cheese around her lips.

"She's gonna talk to your daddy for a little bit." I brought Brady over to the sink. Even without eating the peanut butter from the jar, he still managed to get it all over himself. I'd have to give him a bath.

Hoagie entered the kitchen, to find me and Brady having a stare down over the peanut butter issue. He laughed and then kissed the side of my head. "I'm off again," he said. "See you later, buddy!" Hoagie added turning towards our son.

Ace, Patton, and Nigel followed him out. Wally left about ten minutes later, visibly upset. I gave Brady his bath and situated him and Ash in front of the TV. Kuki still hadn't come out of her bedroom. I was worried about my friend; it always seemed wrong when she was sad, like she was wearing someone else's clothes.

There was a knock at the door and I went to answer it. Kuki stood in the doorway. Of course, it wasn't really Kuki; it was just her twin of a little sister, Mushi. "Uh, hey, girl," I greeted. Mushi was a senior in high school this year and didn't come to visit often.

"Abby," Mushi replied.

I didn't particularly care for Kuki's little sister. There was something about her that rubbed me the wrong way, like her whole 'I love everything' personality was just a show she liked to put on. Regardless, I let her in the door. She had video equipment with her. That worried me.

"Where's Kuki?" Mushi asked me.

"Kuki's a little…upset, Mushi. Abby don't know if this is the best time."

The teen aged girl smiled and flipped her short, black hair. "Of course it's the best time. It's always the best time to see your sister!" Mushi let herself into Kuki's room.

I groaned. What was Mushi doing here anyway? I found out a few minutes later when Mushi reappeared, dragging Kuki behind her. She plopped her sister down on the couch next to Ash. "Is your deadbeat here?" Mushi asked.

Kuki shook her head sadly, not even bothering to make a comment about Wally not being a deadbeat. Mushi set up her equipment and turned on her camera. "Now, this is the best part of my family," she started in a sickeningly sweet voice. "My sister and my niece. They don't live with my parents and I at home. My sister's name is Kuki. Say hi, Kuki!" Kuki waved at the camera. "She's the best big sister in the world. My niece's name is Ash. My sister's boyfriend, Wally, named her, don't ask. He couldn't be with us today, tragic, I know. Ash is the cutest little thing in the world. Aren't you, Ash?" Ash nodded her head. It was true. And Ash definitely knew it. Mushi shut off the camera. "I have to make a documentary about myself for video production. I'll be off now. See you soon, sissy!" she added, making her way to the door.

Kuki sat on the couch for a few moments after the door had slammed. Then, she picked up Ash and walked back into her bedroom, silently.

* * *

**A/N: Mushi's so mean...And, I can't exactly tell you why I skipped ahead three years. I just kind of wanted to and this works better with where I want the plot to go, I guess. hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Hoagie sat at the kitchen table, licking the lid of a strawberry banana yogurt. "How old are you, man?" I asked him, not actually upset.

He stared at me. "Abigail, you can't just _not_ lick the lid of a yogurt. I mean, come on," Hoagie laughed.

I turned my attention back to my magazine. Sometimes, Hoagie was just plain weird.

"Abs!" Only seconds later, he shocked me back into looking at him. "Listen to this: The 'Star in Your Own Television Show' Sweepstakes! Win a chance for you and your friends to star in a brand new TV series! I'm entering," Hoagie said.

"You are not entering. Abby won't let ya," I replied. Hoagie pouted. "You enter every single one of those dumb contests and we never win! All it ever gets us is junk mail!"

Hoagie shook his head, upsetting the already unruly hair. "Abby, Abby, Abby. Clearly, the more sweepstakes I enter, the more chances I have of winning one eventually. Mark my words, darling, you'll see."

* * *

Many days and licked yogurt lids later, I sat at the kitchen table sorting mail. The stack of junk towered over the stack of bills and other important mail (namely, my magazines). Across the top of one envelope, it read "The Star in Your Own Television Show Sweepstakes". I shook my head but carefully ripped open the top, sort of remembering the day Hoagie had entered.

My brown eyes widened in shock as they skimmed over the words written across the page. Hoagie had won. He had actually won some stupid, yogurt lid sweepstakes. And, we got to star in our own television show. Immediately, I picked up the cordless phone at my side and called Hoagie at work.

"Hey, beautiful, what's up?" he answered.

"Abby don't believe this, boy, but you actually won that contest."

"Which one?" Hoagie asked excitedly. "The one where we get a free trip to Beijing? Or the one where we get free apples for a year? Oh, is it the one where-"

"We get to have a TV show? Yep, that's the one, baby!" I had tried not to get into this. But, honestly, who doesn't want their own TV show? With the all the money, we'd be able to buy a house easily. The letter said 8 members of your family or friends would be on the show. That would be everyone who lived with us. Kuki and Wally would probably be able to buy a house and move out too. I didn't know why I had told Hoagie he couldn't enter the contest. It was pretty much the best idea he'd ever had.

After listening to Hoagie freak out for a few minutes, I hung up and called the number at the bottom of the letter. A regal sounding man answered, "Hawkins TV and Co. What can I do for you?"

"Um," I mumbled, not used to talking to such proper people (besides Nigel); "this is Abigail Gilligan. My husband, Hoagie Gilligan, won a contest and I was supposed to call this number for more information."

"Oh, of course," the man continued. "They told me you'd be calling. Let me transfer you; hold on one moment, please."

I talked to another man who explained to me what the sweepstakes had been about. They were apparently looking for something fresh and new. Not a bunch of strangers playing a family, but an actual family playing a family. I told them about me, Hoagie, and Brady. They were also interested in Wally, Kuki, Ash, Joey, and Fanny being on the show, as we made up a large family basically. Wally and Kuki didn't know about the sweepstakes, but I knew Kuki and she would never complain about a chance to be on TV. When, we talked salary, I was shocked. Before the call was ended, they said that Hoagie and I would need to come in sometime soon to sign a contract.

I was extremely jittery while waiting for Kuki and Fanny to come home so I could tell them the news. The minute I heard keys in the door, I jumped off the couch.

"Girl, hey!" I exclaimed as an exhausted Kuki came in followed by a pissed off Fanny. "So, guess what?"

The two young women look at me. "What?" Fanny spat, dropping her large messenger bag on the floor.

I grinned. "We're going to star in a TV show! And buy houses!"

"Good one, Abby," Fanny replied. She bit into the apple she had taken off the counter. I handed her the letter from the sweepstakes. Her forest green eyes widened just like mine had. "My word," she whispered.

Kuki snatched the letter out of Fanny's freckled hands. "OH MY GOD!" she squealed. "You're serious?" Kuki was smiling the biggest I'd seen since she found out about her second pregnancy.

"Abby doesn't kid, girlfriend!" Kuki wrapped her long arms around me while jumping up and down. Fanny looked at us sideways. I knew she kind of wanted to join in, but of course she didn't.

"Where in the hell am I supposed to live when the two of you decide to live the suburban life?" Our red-headed friend wasn't as happy about this advancement as we were.

"Fanny, silly, you can buy yourself an apartment with the money you make," Kuki giggled. Her eyes narrowed into slits. "Or," she started, "there may be a certain black-haired boy who you could buy a house with."

Fanny blushed deep red. "I don't know what you're talking about. But thanks for deserting me, anyway."

* * *

At the contract signing, it was decided that we would be starring in a night time sitcom. The show would mainly center on Hoagie and I, but everyone would be living together in one house. And some plotlines would maybe be about collecting rent and that sort of stuff. There would be other minor characters that the company would add in as needed.

In terms of houses, once we had the money, Wally and Kuki bought a house right next to ours in a brand new neighborhood. There were very nice schools in the area and I couldn't be happier that we had finally gotten out of the city. I liked the city for visiting, but I had never liked living there. And it wasn't really a place to be raising kids. Fanny bought an apartment on the outskirts of the city. She's happy there and wasn't as bitter about us 'deserting' her. She still came around a lot because she didn't act like it, but deep down she loved us. Especially Patton, in Kuki's opinion.

Soon, Wally, Kuki, and Hoagie finished college and started working in their fields. I stayed home and watched the kids during the day. But, Joey and Brady went to school so it was basically just Ash. The TV show was going really well, but all three of them loved their jobs and decided to keep them. If it ever got to be too much, they could always stop for a few years until the show was over.

"Brady, wake up," I said, shaking his shoulder gently. I'd overslept and Joey was probably waiting for him. Brady went to the preschool attached to Joey's school and they walked together every day.

"Do I have school today?" he asked while popping up into a sitting position. Brady loved school. I guess with Hoagie and I as parents, it was bound to happen. Hoagie had already started teaching the almost 4 year old to read.

I smiled at my son. "Mama over slept, so you've gotta hurry. You know how Joey gets." I started tossing clothes at him that were easy to put on.

"Like Wally, right, mama?" Brady giggled.

We went into the kitchen and I poured him some milk and cereal into a plastic cup. "Here ya go, kid. Drink this on your way." Brady pulled on the backpack that was almost the size of him and together we walked over to Kuki and Wally's house.

Joey was standing on the driveway with a scowl. "I woke up before the cruddy sun, and you can't hurry this kid along?" he asked me.

On my way inside, I ruffled his blonde hair, which is something he hated. "Oh, can it, Beatles."

Joey grouchily took Brady's hand and they continued down the street towards school. I was headed inside the house to get Ash. Kuki wasn't currently working because she was on doctor ordered 'bed rest'. The Doctor didn't know how hard it was for my always busy best friend to stay in one place. She was probably worse off now than she was before. I let myself inside where Kuki was folding laundry. "I hate this!" she cried, folding an orange sweatshirt and adding it to a pile with three others.

"Doesn't that boy wear any other colors?" I smirked.

Kuki looked distractedly down at the pile of clothes. "When I make him," she responded.

"Abby, abby, abby, abby!" A pint-sized whirlwind circled around my legs.

I bent over and picked up Ash. Her chest was heaving from the combination of running and yelling. "Hey, girl. Kuki, you want breakfast?"

"Oh yes please! Eggs, I have a huge craving for eggs!"

I walked into the kitchen with Ash on my hip. "Do you want eggs, Ash?" I asked the two year old.

Ash's attention was turned at the window. "Look, Abby! Friends." She pointed excitedly out the window.

I spun around and noticed Nigel, Patton, and Ace approaching the house. Ash was wiggling to get out of my arms so I put her down and she rushed to the door. Once there, she looked at me expectedly. "Open, please."

I let Wally and Hoagie's three friends in, wondering what exactly they were doing here. Hoagie told me they'd gotten jobs. I picked Ash up again, but she reached away from me. "Nigel!" she whined. I handed her over before the moaning started. Patton rolled his eyes. As far as I knew, Patton had never held either Brady or Ash. But, then again, maybe when we left the three of them in charge, he was more helpful than I thought. Not likely though.

"What's for breakfast?" Patton asked smelling the eggs.

"Nothin' for you, fool. Kuki's having eggs. Go make yourself useful and start the washing machine," I commanded the black-haired boy. I handed him a basket full of clothes.

Patton approached the washing machine with a look of fear. "How?" He looked down at it like it was speaking Chinese.

Nigel pushed Patton out of the way and expertly started the washing machine. "There," he said, dumping the clothes in.

"Where'd you learn that, Nigelina?" Patton snickered.

Ace rolled his chocolate brown eyes.

"One: I, unlike you, actually wash my clothing. And two: the feminine form of 'Nigel' is 'Nigella' so nice try, dolt," Nigel responded with a smirk.

Patton sat down at the table, defeated, and I turned around to notice that Kuki's eggs were now scrambled. "Well, great," I moaned. "I was listening to you two morons and now Kuki's eggs are scrambled."

My eyes were met by three blank stares. "So…?" Patton asked.

"Scrambled eggs make her sick."

Patton stood up from the table and patted my back. "Don't fret, Abby. I'll take those off your hands."

"Abby figured," I sighed, dumping the eggs onto a paper plate. I called to Kuki in the other room. "I'll make you some new eggs, girl."

"Don't worry," she replied, grumpily. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

* * *

**A/N: Yay for random events happening! Haha, the things that happen in this fic would just never happen. I love it. **


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The next day, I was making lunch for Brady, Ash, and Kuki when the phone rang. We'd relocated our 'fun' to my house so that Kuki would feel like she'd gone somewhere. She'd made it blatantly clear that if she had to stay at her house all day every day there would be no hair left on her head. "Hello?" I heard Kuki answer. "No, this is Kuki Sanban, but I can hand you over to Abigail." She paused for a moment, concern covering her face. "Oh, he's not my son. Technically he's my soon-to-be brother-in-law, but that's kind of silly and long, right?" Another pause, obviously this was someone calling from the school about Joey. I wondered what had happened. Joey tended to get into some fights; like his brother, he had a short fuse. Kuki giggled nervously. "Right, well, physically, I can't do that. But, I'll send Abby over right away." My friend put the phone down.

"What's up?" I asked.

Kuki shook her head sadly. "Joey got into some sort of argument and tried to throw a desk. I should be going but I really can't. Especially because now I'm stressed out. Oh, Wally will be so angry. Joey was doing so well lately with everything. Will you go over there Abby? Just bring him home."

"Sure, girl. Abby'll go and get the kid. It's no big deal." I picked up Ash and grabbed Brady's hand before setting out the door.

Five minutes later I arrived in the principal's office, face to face with an extremely high-strung woman. "Mrs. Gilligan, I presume?"

"Yeah. Nice to meet you," I added.

The woman, Mrs. Withers, riffled through some pages on her desk. "And, what exactly is your relation to Joseph Beatles?"

"Friend. Close friend. He used to live with us, actually," I responded. I gave the woman a half-smile. Moments like this always reminded me just how young all of us were. We were twenty-two, too young to be taking care of a twelve year old boy who probably had severe problems due to his parents' death.

Mrs. Withers nodded tightly. "I told Ms. Sanban this over the phone, but Joseph attempted to throw a desk at another student today. I see from his files that this boy has had _numerous_ other issues with his behavior-"

"Excuse me, but where is Joey?" So I cut her off. It was rude, yeah, but shouldn't the kid have been there?

"Joseph locked himself in the third floor restroom," the principal answered.

I tightened my grip on Ash, who was sitting in my lap. "And you didn't think you would tell Abby that first? Shouldn't your first concern _always_ be your student?"

"But Joseph's behavior-"

"_Joey_ lost his parents in the worst possible way, unexpectedly, barely three years ago. So Abby would say, yeah, the kid probably does have some behavior issues. But what is that worth when you compare it to the fact that no kid should ever have to deal with something that heavy?" I asked accusingly. Why was it that when you hit a certain age things stopped being about others? I thought schools were supposed to be 'safe places' and here's Joey being yelled at for throwing a desk. "His brother's been a wreck ever since, he's lived in three different places in three years, there's a kid on the way at his house, and he's trying to be a normal seventh grader!"

The principal just stared at me, obviously shocked by my outburst. "Well, why don't I just take you all up to the restroom and you can talk to Mr. Beatles?"

"Thanks a heap," I murmured following the pant-suit wearing woman out of the office.

Once we were standing outside the bathroom, I squatted down to Brady's level. "Can you go in there and ask Joey to come out, kid?"

Brady nodded with a huge smile. He came back out a minute or so later, holding Joey's hand. Joey was running his other hand over his bangs, flattening them to his forehead as if he wanted to cover his eyes even more than usual. As always, I was struck by how much he was like his brother. Wally never wanted people to know he had been crying either. "What happened, Joey?" I asked him.

Joey looked down at his shoes, but I noticed his hand gripped tighter around Brady's. "Stupid cruddy kids were talking about how much their parents sucked. And I don't know, Abby. Sometimes I just get so angry and I can't stop myself," he mumbled in response.

I'd never seen Joey this upset before. "C'mere," I replied, opening my arms for him to step into. For a second, Joey's red-rimmed eyes met mine and he gave me a look like I was insane. But, eventually, the long arms of a rapidly-growing teenager wrapped around my middle. As Joey's entire body shook with tears, I found myself thanking God that I had never lost a parent like so many of my friends had.

Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I let go of Joey and turned around. "Yes?"

"Mrs. Gilligan, Joey could've potentially killed that boy if the desk had been thrown. So, I'd like to think he would be given some sort of punishment. I know you aren't his guardian, but hugging isn't exactly the best way to get a point across," Mrs. Withers stated with a stern look.

I gave the principal (so much for great schools in the area) my own stern look, grabbed Brady's hand, picked up Ash, and started down the hallway with Joey trailing behind. "Bye!" I called. "We're leaving now and Joey's gonna get a lot of praise for throwing that desk. Ain't that right, Joe?"

The blonde-haired boy looked up at me with his red eyes again, but this time a slight smile was on his face. "Totally," he responded.

* * *

When we got back to my house, I sent Joey inside to talk to Kuki. Ash and Brady wanted to ride their little bikes around so I stretched out on my lawn chair and prepared to half-watch them. I had just closed my eyes when I heard the screen door slam. "Abby! Abby, Kuki's in labor!" Joey shouted from the porch.

"Mommy?" Ash asked, looking up at her mother's name.

Immediately, I was on my feet. "Joey, you go help Kuki out here while Abby gets Ash and Brady in the car!"

The twelve-year old grimaced and raised an eyebrow at me. Adding to the many similarities between he and his brother, Joey hated this kind of crazy, frantic stuff. "You know what would be way worse than helping Kuki walk out here?" I asked him. He shook his head. "Having to the deliver the kid _on the driveway_. Now, move it, Beatles!"

Joey quickly ran back into the house and had Kuki sitting in the backseat before I had finished buckling the two toddlers in. "You're gonna be fine, girl," I reminded her as I backed out of the driveway. Joey sat next to me in the passenger seat with his forehead pressed against the dash.

On the way there, I called first Wally and then Hoagie and told them to meet us at the hospital. Wally had had his phone on him at all times in anticipation of this call, but Hoagie was a lot harder to get a hold of. He finally answered the third time I called him. "Thank god you answered, man. Abby's needs you at the hospital. Kuki's having the kid and you need to help me with Joey, Ash, and Brady," I explained over Kuki's yelps.

"Ah…the three little monsters." Hoagie laughed at his own joke, as always.

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled. "And soon to be four." Kuki screamed and I gave a look at Joey. He gave me a look back that made it clear he didn't want to get involved. "Very soon, so hurry up, alright?"

"Alright, sheesh!" Hoagie replied before I hung up on him.

"OK, girl, Wally and Hoagie are on their way. You are gonna be just fine, Abby knows. And we are almost there." We were actually stuck in awful traffic, but eventually we made it to the hospital. I grabbed a wheel chair and rolled Kuki in, yelling back at Joey to make sure he had Brady and Ash's hands.

"Why's mommy yelling?" Ash asked Joey, looking up at him beneath black bangs. Wally was going to be there any minute and Kuki was already in her room.

The boy shrugged. "Well, Ash, um…your new baby brother or sister is coming soon and your mommy is…happy? Yeah she's just really happy," Joey finished. He looked insanely proud of himself.

I hit my head against my palm. Joey just smirked at me. Ash looked confused. Then, Hoagie and Wally both came flying through the double doors. "Where is she?" Wally asked, his cheeks flushed.

"Room 145," I responded at the same time that Hoagie yelled, "Good luck, buddy!" Wally took off down the hall and Hoagie sat on the chair next to me.

"Well," he smiled, "that was an adventure."

I shook my head at my grinning husband. "Baby, what if we weren't married and had two kids?" I asked him. It was a thought that had bounced around in my head every since Kuki told me about her second pregnancy.

"That, my dear, would never happen." Hoagie pulled me against him and kissed my head.

I looked up at his clear blue eyes. "I love you," I told him.

"You have no idea," he responded; earning an eye roll from me. I leaned over and returned his kiss anyway.

After what seemed like forever (but I was thankful because Ash and Brady were getting restless), a nurse came over and asked our names. "Abby's right here," I pointed to myself. "And this is Hoagie, Joey, Ash, and Brady." I nodded at each person as I said their name.

The nurse smiled. "They were looking for Joey, Ash, and Abby." I picked up Ash and the three of us followed the nurse back to Room 145. Kuki sat on the bed, cradling a pink bundle to her chest. Wally had a look on his face that was a cross between Joey's 'head-to-the-dash' expression from earlier and complete adoration.

"Hey, Kooks," I smiled.

"Hey, Abby! She's a girl," Kuki giggled. I'll just put it out there that I was in no mood to laugh so soon after Brady popped out. But, that's Kuki for you. "Her name is Ryan Aiko Beatles." I handed Ash to Wally as Kuki said this.

Wally leaned Ash over the bed. "Look, bug, it's your baby sister," he whispered in her ear.

"Congratulations, guys," I said, pushing Joey closer to his family. "Abby's coming back later, but Hoagie and Brady really shouldn't be left alone. They're way too much…alike." Kuki and Wally laughed at this and I slipped out the door.

When I got back to the lobby, Hoagie and Brady were no longer sitting. Hoagie had Brady up on his shoulders and they both had their arms straight out, like an airplane. My husband ran around the lobby as Brady giggled and made airplane noises. I stopped and leaned against the wall, shaking my head slightly but smiling all the same.

"Have you been watching them?" a nurse asked. She didn't seem to think I knew them. "That man seems a little young, but he is _such_ a good father to that little boy." I nodded and smiled at her. She was right, we were a little young. But, we were doing the best we could and that's all we could do. The nurse walked away and I went to rejoin my family.

Hoagie looked up at Brady when they saw me. "Requesting permission to land, Sky King Brady?" Hoagie asked.

Brady tapped his chin. "Well, I guess so," he giggled. They plopped down in the chair next to me.

"So, it's a girl. Her name is Ryan," I started. Hoagie stared at me and I could see a laugh building in his eyes. "Alright," I sighed, "make a lame joke now."

"Well, I was just gonna ask who you thought was naming these poor little girls," Hoagie blurted out.

We both said "Wally" at the exact same time. I took Brady off Hoagie's lap and placed him in mine. "Maybe, if we have another boy we can name him Mackenzie or something," Hoagie suggested.

I rolled my eyes at him for the second and in no way last time that day. "Abby doesn't know why she keeps a fool like you around," I said playfully.

Hoagie stretched out his legs in front of him and threw a long arm around my shoulders. "I am your baby daddy," he replied. "And I think there's something else too, I just can't seem to remember it. Oh, yeah, that's it! Abby loves Hoagie!"

He laughed and I smack him lightly on the head. It had been an extremely hectic, crazy day, but Hoagie always knew how to bring my stress down a notch or two. And Abby definitely loved Hoagie for that.

* * *

**A/N: lalalaalalala...I'm deliriously tired right now so this is probably laden with errors. It is 12:17 AM but I haven't been sleeping like at all lately so for me this is rough.**

**Anyway, this isn't my best work, even for this story, and this chapter isn't very funny. But I kind of like the whole part with Joey at the beginning. I like writing Joey, he's cute. **

**Next chapter will bring a whole new little dilemma into the picture and also the return of Fanny and Patton and all of our friends that basically made the first chapters enjoyable! So yay!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I woke up one bright morning and, glancing at the man snoring to my left, I couldn't help but think how good things were going for us. After so many years of struggle and craziness, my family (Kuki and Wally included) was finally in a good place. Brady loved school, we had money, Joey and Wally were coping, Little Miss Ryan was growing beautiful and strong. For once, it was hard not to let the idea that nothing could go wrong seep into my thoughts.

I scooted over on the bed and shook Hoagie's shoulder. "Hey, baby, wake up!"

Hoagie moaned slightly, less of a morning person than me but still better than Wally. "Ughn?" he grumbled.

"Abby thinks," I started, running my fingers through his hair while trying to expedite his waking process, "we should have a party or something. You know, like one of the parties we used to have. I mean, we're legal now. Abby's never legally been drunk, you know."

The idea of a party seemed to wake Hoagie up a bit. He smiled at me. "Like a full-blown rager?"

"All the bells and whistles. We still have friends, right?" I joked.

Hoagie sat up and stretched. "Of course we have friends," he said, drawing out the phrase. "Jeez, Abs. What do you think I am? Some kind of loser?"

I punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Middle school ring a bell? Actually, any time before Abby decided to save your sorry butt and date you!"

"So, it's a go?" Hoagie verified, smiling his lopsided grin at me.

"It's a go."

* * *

"Oh, I don't know," my best friend murmured. Her ebony hair rustled back and forth as she shook her head slowly.

"Whatever happened to my crazy, aspiring artiste, girl?" I asked, trying to raise my Kuki's spirits.

Kuki turned her attention to folding the laundry. I watched her neatly crease every piece of clothing. Perfection. What _had _happened to my friend? "She has three kids to take care of now," she replied.

Frustrated, I grabbed a t-shirt out of Kuki's tiny hands. "You deserve fun. Abby deserves fun. We all deserve fun. So we are gonna have us some damn fun! Understood?"

Kuki nodded her head with a shocked look on her face.

* * *

"Hell yeah!" Patton yelled as he cranked up some rap.

The party was going great. It turned out to be just what we all needed. A night off with all our friends from our very hectic, filled lives. Cree was watching all the kids. We figured this was a fair trade-off because Brady loved seeing his cousins and Ash loved seeing Cree's kids. I approached Patton, confidently, although I was already a little tipsy. "Turn that off, fool. This party is about Abby. Not you."

Patton made to block the sound system, but I quickly reached around him and changed the music. Of course, Patton was _much_ drunker than I was. The voice of Rihanna filled the room and I walked off to find Hoagie, satisfied. Upon finding hoagie, I stumbled a bit into his arms. He glanced down at me. "How drunk do you plan on getting, Miss Lincoln?"

"I'm not that drunk," I giggled.

Hoagie sighed and wrapped his arm possessively around my shoulders, pulling me to him. "You just giggled. You're drunk."

I stuck with Hoagie for the rest of the night, enjoying the party and reliving all the things we had almost forgotten. Like Ace hooking up with at least three strangers, Patton spilling his beer on the rug, Fanny's drunk rendition of any song that was playing. But, in the back of my mind, something kept nagging at me that I didn't belong there anymore. I was no longer young, carefree, in college.

And I knew that, this was not only a great party, but also a farewell of sorts.

* * *

I woke up the next day feeling completely detached from my body. I couldn't remember how to move and my head felt like it was spinning. "Is this seriously happening?" I grumbled.

"I'd like to say no, but you don't even want to know how much you drank last night, Abs." I jumped slightly, not realizing that Hoagie had stepped out of the bathroom and heard me.

"Abby ain't happy," I moaned, rolling over on the bed.

Hoagie bent over the bed and placed a kiss against my throbbing skull. "I'm gonna go pick up Brady. Sleep."

I drifted back off to sleep and was suddenly awoken not too long after by something pounding against my bed. I opened one eye to find Brady jumping on the bed, a huge grin across his face, so similar to one his father often wore. "Brady, settle down, kid."

"Daddy says you need to suck it up, Mama!" Brady recalled, pausing to catch his breath every so often.

I sat up slightly and, wrapping an arm around the child's waist, pulled Brady next to me on the bed. "Oh, did he, now?"

Brady nodded solemnly before he was suddenly attacked by my tickles. The little boy giggled and squirmed, trying to break free. I stopped and smiled at my son. "Mama's gonna go talk to Daddy. Do you wanna watch TV in here?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Brady squealed. He loved watching TV in our bed with all the pillows and stuff.

I set Brady up and was out of the room when the phone rang. I heard Hoagie pick it up at the kitchen table and went to go sit with him.

As he spoke to whoever was on the other line, I watched his perpetual grin fall from his face. That couldn't be good. "Thank you." He ended the phone call and let the phone fall from his fingers. It hit the table with a clatter. Hoagie's fingers threaded themselves in his auburn hair; a sure sign he was upset or nervous. He turned to me. "The show's off the air."

I must've looked shocked and Hoagie took my hand in his. "But, we're OK, right? Abby knows you don't work that much right now, but we have money, right?"

I remembered the other day when I thought that nothing could go wrong. And then, in a phone call…

Hoagie nodded his head sadly. "Yeah, yeah. We should be fine. But, Kooks and Wally…they're screwed, Abs."

I looked down at our entwined hands. "They could move back in with us again. Do you think we have enough to buy a bigger house?"

He pushed a piece of hair behind one of my ears. "No college fund for Brady then. You know, this sucks." Suddenly, Hoagie was angry; an expression I rarely saw from him.

And it did suck. But, Hoagie would just start working more. It was Kuki and Wally that were the true problem. They had two more kids than us and had been getting paid less for the show since Hoagie was the one who won the contest. Not to mention, they had decided a couple months ago to finally get married and that had probably taken some of their funds.

The phone rang again, shocking me from my thoughts. Hoagie picked it up and I could hear that the person on the other line was screaming. "Whoa, slow down, buddy….Yeah, we have plenty of money. It shouldn't be such a problem….OK, really? Nice...OK...Sounds good...Peace." Hoagie placed the phone back down on the table.

I looked at him expectantly.

"Wally said if Kooks went back to work and they didn't have to pay for any daycare, they could probably make it without our help," Hoagie said happily. "Except, I guess you'd have to watch the kids."

I walked into the kitchen and started getting things together for dinner. "It's a small price to pay, Abby thinks." I didn't mind that I would be watching Ash and Ryan again. They weren't so bad.

* * *

Monday morning, I woke up early. I went over to Kuki's to get Ash and Ryan. Kuki had some interviews today. I opened the front door and stepped into the house. "Hey!"

Seconds later, Ryan crawled into the front hall, followed by Wally. "Ash, Abby's here!" he called, scooping up the other little girl.

Ash stumbled tiredly down the stairs. When her eyes landed on me a huge smile lit up her face. "Abby!" Quickly, she ran back up the stairs to get dressed so that she could go off to school with Joey and Brady. I took Ryan out of Wally's arms.

"Brady ain't up yet, girl," I called up to Ash. "If you hurry, you can wake him for me."

The three-year old appeared only moments later, dressed in a pink top with a red skirt. Ash twirled around in a circle, letting her skirt flare out from her legs, and gave me a smile. "All ready!"

At the same time, Joey appeared at the top of the staircase, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. "I'll be over in like 10 minutes," he mumbled, before disappearing again.

I sighed and grabbed Ash's hand to set out back to my house. Once there, she ran up to Brady's room and seconds later some sort of loud squabble had broken out in his bedroom. "Get ready for school," I yelled as a reminder.

I placed Ryan in Brady's old high chair and gave her some cheerios to eat for breakfast. I leaned up against the kitchen counter and watched Ryan smack her chubby hands against the tray. I listened to the fight above my head begin to die down. It occurred to me how quickly we had solved such a big problem. We had all lost our jobs, essentially, but here we were, only days later, going about life. Because we were there for each other. I smiled. Nothing was more reassuring than the fact that I would never have to worry about there being something that was too much to handle.

* * *

**A/N: Caramba! It's been forever! I've found that I've kind of lost interest in writing this story. So, this might end up being the last chapter, but I'm going to try for one more I think. Thanks for reading!**

**Oh, and if you could let me know what your favorite part of this fic was, it'd be appreciated. I've never done that much humor before, so it'd be interesting to see :D Thanks!**

**~Terra**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

From my place cooking at the stove, I heard the doorbell ring. I glanced down at my pot of boiling substance, worriedly. "Brady! Get the door!" I screamed.

Moments later, a thin nine year old shuffled into the kitchen. "Mom," Brady grumbled, shooting me a glare. I couldn't help but stare at my son. When had he gotten so old? Where had my little ball of energy gone? "Do I have to?"

I leaned forward and swiped a navy blue hat off the boy's head, revealing some unruly, deep brown hair. "Go open that door, kid," I replied, after smacking him lightly with the hat and placing it back on its head.

"Oh, alright," Brady mumbled. He headed off in the direction of the door. I heard the door open and Brady let out an excited, "Hey!"

We were having a Superbowl party and everyone was coming over. It'd been a while since the whole gang was all together in one place.

"Hey, man!" a voice replied. I smiled thinking of how a few years ago the same voice would've said something like, 'Yo, homes.'

Brady re-entered the kitchen followed by Patton who had his arm wrapped around the shoulders of a tall, red-head. Yeah, it had finally happened after years of Kuki's pressuring. Fanny Fulbright was Fanny Drilovsky. Of course, this didn't happen without Patton dropping the whole 'gangsta' thing and getting a job or without Fanny being...well, nicer.

Fanny shook herself out of Patton's grasp and she walked over to my spot at the stove. "Need any help?" she asked.

At that moment, Hoagie came briskly walking into the kitchen. Patton put up his hand for a high-five, but my husband walked past him without a glance on the way to his target. Brady. Once he was standing in front of Brady, he held up a slim, black cord. Hoagie was wearing his best menacing glare (which didn't hold a candle to mine). Brady stared up at his father blankly.

"Your Playstation stuff is everywhere!" Hoagie explained, waving the cord around in the air. "So until you figure out where it belongs, _I _will be holding on to this!"

Brady's blank stare soon turned into one of exasperation. "Dad. If I want to play it, it's gonna have to be out."

Hoagie shook his head. "We're having a party. Go clean it." He turned around and started to leave the room, but he turned back to face us as if he had suddenly remembered something. "And, have either of you seen Cece?"

I spun around from the stove at the mention of my three-year-old daughter's name.

"I'm gonna go pick up my stuff now," Brady said, trying to make a hasty exit.

I grabbed the dark-haired boy by the back of his shirt. "What did you do, fool?" I asked him as he struggled against my grasp.

"OK, OK, I told her we were playing hide 'n seek and she was the hider!" Brady admitted. He smiled and he obviously wasn't at all upset about tricking his baby sister.

Patton snorted, but I silenced him with glare. "Go find her and then pick up all the game crap or your butt is seriously grounded," I warned.

Brady made an ashamed, shuffling exit to find his little sister as the doorbell rang again. I opened the door to find Nigel and his wife, Rachel. Rachel was the newest addition to our little 'family' of sorts. Nigel had met her about four years ago and she was exactly what our anal-retentive friend needed. The blonde fit in seamlessly with our tight knit group and it often felt like she had always been around.

I welcomed the two of them in with hugs and Nigel shot Rachel a nervous glance. "Do you want to sit? I think you should sit for a moment." His hands reached towards his wife's round belly.

Rachel slapped his hands away and placed hers on his shoulders. "I'm fine," she told him playfully. "Maybe _you_ should go sit for a minute."

I smiled at the couple before remembering that Cece was missing. "OK, there's salsa and chips on the table. Abby will be right back," I called to them as I walked off to look for her.

I ended up finding her under bed. "C'mere, girl," I soothed. I pulled her into my arms as she cried.

"Brady is mean," Cece mumbled into my shoulder.

I nodded. "He is, isn't he? Mama thinks you should go give him a piece of your mind." I placed the curly-haired preschooler on the ground and she took off in search of her "mean" older brother.

I left the room slowly after her. Soon, I heard a loud squeal of "NIGEL!" Obviously she had gotten sidetracked from her little mission. It was kind of humorous how much Ash, Cece, and Ryan had all loved Nigel when they were little. I mean, he's a tall, bald guy.

When I finally got back to the dining room, Cece was being the little charmer she was. My daughter was situated on Nigel lap, both of her tiny palms pressed against Rachel's bump. I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall. Seconds later, Cece let out a string of giggles and a thrilled smile over took her face. "I felt it!"

Fanny sat to Rachel's other side; her vivid green eyes taking in the scene with something that might have been jealousy. She glanced over at Patton who was talking to Hoagie and ran her fingers through his hair. Patton turned and smiled at his wife, fitting his fingers between hers.

The doorbell rang yet again. "I'll get it!" Brady yelled. I heard his footsteps pound as he jogged towards the door.

The Spanish man who had been at the door followed my son into the dining room. Clutching onto Ace's hand was a little boy, around two years old, whose thumb was stuck in his mouth. As hard to believe as it may be, our friend Ace, the 'lady's man', had gotten married and had Kyle. And then, our group was thrown the hardest curveball yet. Ace's wife had breast cancer. Ace was still nowhere near recovered from her death and Kyle was very shy. He rarely spoke to anyone but Ace.

"Hey, man," Hoagie said getting up from the table to greet his friend.

Rachel turned around in her chair and smoothed Kyle's hair. "Hey, buddy," she murmured.

All of us girls were worried about Kyle growing up without a mother. We made sure not to be too in his face because he wasn't really used to having women around, but we hoped that he would be able to come to us for things later in life. Kuki and I felt especially strong about this because we were mothers. I could tell Rachel was going to be a great mom; she was naturally so maternal and caring.

"Hey, ma, can I go get my airsoft gun?" Brady asked after everyone was done greeting Ace and Kyle.

"Sure, whatever," I replied. I hadn't really been listening to the question because I was thinking about dinner.

A few minutes later, Cece came into the kitchen crying. "What's up?" I asked, lifting her to sit on the counter. I hoped it wasn't her brother again.

"Brady shot me!" she sobbed. Of course, it was her brother again.

"BRADY! PUT THAT GUN AWAY NOW!" I heard Hoagie scream. Brady was apparently in one of his 'trouble causing' moods today.

Hoagie entered the kitchen in a huff. He turned on the sink and ran a wet cloth over his arm. "He got me with a metal one. Who the hell bought him metal ones?"

I shrugged. "Abby don't know," I replied. "BRADY! GET IN HERE!"

"Um…no?" Brady replied from the other room. He was probably watching pre-game stuff with Patton and Nigel.

"Um…too bad?" Hoagie mocked. I slapped his arm lightly.

"I'll come over there then," I warned.

"OK." It didn't really sound like Brady was very worried about being punished. It was like he didn't get punished, he definitely did. I think he got the carefree attitude from Hoagie.

Hoagie ran out of the kitchen. "Guess who it sucks to be right now?" He said as he carried a kicking and screaming Brady over his shoulder into the kitchen. "Brady Pennywhistle Gilligan!" Hoagie answered his own question as he placed our son on the ground.

I leaned over onto my knees to meet Brady's gaze. "If you hit one more person with that gun, especially your sister, Mama is gonna send that thing straight to the junkyard," I told him.

Brady nodded reluctantly. "I promise," he mumbled.

The doorbell rang. "Will someone get that already?" Fanny screamed.

"We must not have heard it," Hoagie said as he went to let the last of our guests in. He opened the door to two identical blondes, a petite Asian, two dark haired little girls, and a baby. Otherwise known as the Beatles family.

"Hey mate! I'm pumped for some football, I'll tell you that!" Wally said patting Hoagie on the shoulder and smiling.

"Abby!" Kuki squealed, running over and wrapping me in a huge hug.

I smiled and returned the hug. "I saw you yesterday, girl," I reminded her.

"I know," Kuki replied, "but ever since we moved I feel so far away from you."

When Zak, the youngest of the Beatles clan, was born, Wally and Kuki had moved into a bigger house. It wasn't very far from ours, but we were no longer next door neighbors. "Abby," Ash asked, "where's Brady?"

"Causing trouble somewhere," I replied. "Go talk some sense into that boy."

Ash took off, followed by Ryan who said something about, "feeling Rachel's baby." Kuki smiled after her. "They are totally getting married you know," she giggled.

"They're nine and eight, Kuki. Abby don't wanna think about that for a while."

Kuki and I walked into the kitchen to finally finish dinner. Wally had taken Zak and gone off with Hoagie to watch the start of the game. Joey had gone too. Joey was seventeen and would be starting college the next fall. It was hard to believe the blonde teen was the same tiny kid that had slept on a futon in a crowded apartment only nine years ago.

It was hard to believe that any of us were the same people we had been nine years ago. We weren't really. We had all grown so much in such profound ways. Looking back, I saw how naïve we all were. Patton with his drinking, Hoagie and I with our visions of a perfect life, Kuki with her thoughts that she wouldn't be a good mother, Ace with his sleeping around. After all we had been through, it was apparent to me that we ended up so much better because of it. We could face anything life had to throw at us.

I walked out of the kitchen and into the family room, finding every single member of my 'family' present. Squished onto a few too small couches, just like the old days. There was Fanny cursing at the refs as Patton clutched a beer in the hand around her neck. There was Nigel doting over Rachel as she rolled her eyes. There was Ash poking Brady's side and giggling. There was Wally and Hoagie staring intently at the screen; Wally barely noticing Zak on his lap. There was Ace with his arms wrapped protectively around his little son. There was Joey grinning like I'd never seen him grin before. There was Ryan playing patiently on the floor with Cece. And of course, there was Kuki giggling next to me about who-knows-what.

"Food's ready," I smiled.

And the first people up were five men who I predicted would forever come to me for food.

There are some things I hoped would _never_ change.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not as sentimental about ending this story as I was about "Older" but it is kind of sad. I feel like this is a much better ending than if I had ended it with the last chapter because it brings everyone together again. Kind of full circle I guess. Anyway, if you want to still tell me your favorite part, go right ahead :D And, I'd also like to point out, I fainlly managed to sneak Rachel in there. **


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